Housing-bank advocates take case to Beacon Hill

Nantucket’s Community Housing Bank bill took center stage in Boston Monday when a team of islanders traveled to Beacon Hill to argue its merits before a state committee.

The varied group of islanders that included two selectmen, a real estate broker, a loan officer and other housing advocates, joined Nantucket’s state representatives, Sen. Robert O’Leary and Rep. Eric Turkington, during a public hearing before the Joint Committee on Revenue to speak about the home rule petition.

The Community Housing Bank bill, which was unanimously approved by island voters during the October 2006 Special Town Meeting, would create a 1 percent seller-paid transfer fee on real estate transactions over $2 million in order to fund affordable housing initiatives. Proponents estimate the funding mechanism, which would operate in a similar fashion as the Land Bank transfer fee, could generate about $4 million annually for such housing projects.

If approved by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Deval Patrick, the bill would still have to be approved again locally on the ballot during an annual election.

Recently submitted to the state house by Nantucket’s legislative liaison Tim Madden, the bill must first receive a favorable recommendation from the Joint Committee on Revenue before it can proceed to full votes of the house and senate.

A similar bill that included both Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard was approved by the state senate 23-14 during last year’s legislative session, but was defeated by a 90-64 vote in the house. Since then, the Nantucket Housing Office has hired lobbyist Charles Glick to aid in the effort to pass the current version of the bill, a mission that was assisted by the Selectmen last year when they voted to spend $8,000 of their professional services budget to supplement the Housing Office’s fundraising.

“I think we were very well-received by the committee,” Kopko said. “I think they will vote out a positive recommendation on the bill like they did with our legislation last year. My role was to be the clean-up hitter, to speak last and reiterate the big bullets. I talked about a conversation I had with (fire chief) Mark McDougall about firefighters and policemen and how we train them and they leave because they can’t find housing.”

Zola, the former executive director of the Housing Office, has worked tirelessly with the island’s state representatives on the Community Housing Bank legislation and continues to assist in the effort despite having left the organization last year.

“This was a great first step,” Zola said. “I think of it as a real estate market that’s out of whack. We have a high end that’s so out or reach of islanders, and that really skews the market so our low end isn’t low anymore. I see the Housing Bank as using the market to help itself and using the market that’s out of whack to correct that skew. It’s about capturing a small amount from the high end and buffering the lower end to keep it within reach of islanders.”

The home rule legislation was met with skepticism by members of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, who helped defeat the bill during last year’s legislative session, as well as Rep. Patrick Natale (D-Woburn), who forcefully voiced his opposition during Monday’s hearing.

“This is like Robin Hood here – taking from the rich and giving to the poor,” Natale was quoted as saying in a State House News Service article. “I just don’t buy it. I don’t believe this is a bill that should be put on the backs of sellers. This is another tax. I think it's a terrible bill and I won’t be supporting it down the line.”

Natale did not return a phone call seeking comment on the hearing, but members of the Nantucket delegation that attended the hearing admitted it may be difficult to change the minds of politicians like him with such strong opposition to transfer taxes.

“His opposition was more on an ideological basis, and you don’t even bother arguing with people like that,” Kopko said. “He doesn’t get what our problem is. He just thinks the Vineyard and Nantucket are just full of millionaires and that regular people don’t live here.”

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors listed its opposition to any proposed transfer taxes as one of several legislative priorities for the next two years, calling them “inequitable, exclusionary and discriminatory.”

“They seek to single out a small segment of the population, specifically home buyers and sellers, to pay for a community wide responsibility,” the group states on its web site. “Because the real estate market is highly sensitive to economic downturns, transfer taxes would provide an unstable source of revenue.”

While the statewide real estate organization opposes the legislation, the Nantucket Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) supports the bill. Dey, who traveled with the Nantucket delegation Monday, also submitted a letter to state legislators regarding the Community Housing Bank proposal.

“The biggest crisis facing Nantucket today is the lack of housing for year-round working islanders,” Dey wrote. “The Community Housing Bank can provide a significant part of the solution, by using the same market mechanism as our Land Bank does. The Massachusetts Association of Realtors has stated that it will ‘become a barrier to home ownership’ which is false. There is an exemption on Nantucket for the first $2 million. Chances are that a working islander is not buying a home over $2 million.”

Marcavitch, who took over as executive director of the Housing Office after Zola’s departure, said the group was focusing its efforts on members of the house who voted against the legislation last year, and is seeking support from representatives in the Republican minority.

“The real push has been discussing it with the representatives,” Marcavitch said. “We’re using as our basis the vote last year in the house to see who was it that voted against it and seeing why they voted against it. Our legislative consultant (Charles Glick) has been setting up meetings and getting us connected with the right people.”

The state’s Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Michael O’Connell met with representatives of the island’s housing community last week at the Sherburne Commons elderly living community and spoke briefly about Nantucket’s housing situation. It was the first time a sitting secretary of housing had visited the island in 16 years.

“It hit me in terms of crisis today,” said Connelly. “It’s a crisis which needs to be addressed. The state resources are stressed. I’ll be back for the first property funded by the housing bill.”

O’Connell said he was impressed that a household income of $125,000 a year on Nantucket qualifies as “working poor” and that an entry level condominium without finished floors was listed for $700,000 in the newspaper.

“I’ll carry back to the governor what we talked about,” said O’Connell. “I’ll be talking to him over the weekend. The issue has been raised with his excellency, the governor.”

I&M Staff Writer Margaret Carroll-Bergman contributed to this report.

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